I love the urban-fantasy noir-detective blend of this series, and have followed it from the start – it maintained its high quality throughout.

What to Expect

Trigger warning: Alex doesn’t get paid for this case. Well, OK, that’s not that atypical of gumshoe detectives – but most cases don’t start with being ‘hired’ by the ghost of the deceased. When Alex is woken up by a spectre of an old lover at his window looking for closure, he decides to investigate her death. Poking his nose where it doesn’t belong leads Alex to tangle with organised crime and shady government organisations (the distinction somewhat tenuous), professional lawyers and hit-men, and of course various supernatural spirits.

Expect the usual rollicking hard-boiled detective mystery, as if Chandler or Hammett wrote about the occult in an alternate history world.

What I liked

Lumsden’s storied do an excellent job of balancing a noir detective with dark themes of human nature, a well thought-out fantasy & occult world, and a rich alternate history culture based on Meso-American culture. I love his shady side characters that aren’t your cardboard cutouts, but have their own full and surprising personalities. It’s fun to try and guess which of the suspect is guilty, and rooting for the hit-men rather than the lawyers.

What to be aware of

This is book 7 in the series, and refers to events in an over-arching arc that has its root in previous novels. You should definitely start at book 1. The series is written in the first-person, in the style of pulp detectives, which isn’t for everyone.

Felix’s Review

Felix and Alex get very well together, swapping stories over drinks (as do their authors). Felix had his own case being hired by a ghost, but it wasn’t nearly as complicated as this one. He finds the combination of the multi-faceted magic system intriguing, and the old Aztec & Mayan spirits with their direct manifestations captivating. He certainly delves right into each story, wincing in shared pain but never putting the book down until the end.

Summary

This is an excellent urban fantasy detective series, one of the best out there, and you should get a copy. Highly recommended, particularly if you like the old noir detective like Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. If you somehow managed to miss my reviews of the previous installments, start with A Troll Walks Into A Bar, or check out the previous 6 novels on Amazon.

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Enjoying the reviews, but wondering who the heck is that Felix fellow? Glad you asked! He’s the protagonist of the Togas, Daggers, and Magic series, an historical-fantasy blend of a paranormal detective on the background of ancient Rome.

Come meet Felix and his world on the free short stories and novels!